Bye bye, winter blues! | 2 bars that are worth a visit

08. January 2016

Don't let the winter blues keep you inside this weekend. We found two bars where you can forget about the weather outside for a short while.

Upon entering Zyankali Bar for the first time, most visitors will either feel right at home — or as if they just stepped onto a horror movie set. Either way, this cocktail bar — part chemistry lab, part Halloween supply store — offers a unique experience.

Tom Zyankali, the owner, is the “mad professor” behind the counter here, an academic title that’s not completely undeserved. Zyankali, who studied chemical engineering, began bartending in 1991 and has since translated his love for flavor into something that sets his bar apart; of the 600 bottles lining the counters, about 200 feature his own concoctions.

And now Zyankali Bar is once again offering something one-of-a-kind: hot cocktails. Despite common belief, alcohol doesn’t evaporate when heated, says Zyankali, before presenting the Hot & Stormy, a drink made with house-made ginger beer, rum and lime juice, and served, fittingly, in an Erlenmeyer flask. Its temperature? About 70 degrees Celsius. (amu)

Umpa Lump Bar

At Umpa Lump Bar, chocolate appears to drip from the ceiling, and whimsical characters reminiscent of the film “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” decorate the walls.

With a lot of creativity, owners David Krüger and Ben da Cruz have managed to turn their Wonka-inspired concept for a bar, which opened in October, into reality — but not without overcoming several hurdles first. Warner Brothers America, which produced the film, proved a special challenge. “They wanted $1.3 million from us for the right to decorate our bar in the film’s style. That’s why it’s only modeled after the film,” explains Krüger.

Despite the workaround, the bar’s inspiration is impossible not to see — or taste. The Wonkaholic, for example, features white rum, creme de cacao, apricot brandy, cream, chocolate syrup and peach juice. But even sweeter are the snacks: brownies, popcorn and candy imported from the U.S. (lr)